Thermodynamic and Exergetic Analysis of the Allam Cycle

Abstract

This paper presents the study on the current developments of oxy-combustion thermodynamic cycles, which use the CO2 produced by combustion within the cycle itself without releases into the atmosphere. This is the cause of the attention paid to this type of technology and which makes these cycles one of the avant-gardes of power plants. In particular, this study focuses on the analysis of the Allam cycle with the aim of evaluating its performance and therefore investigating whether it may be an alternative to the series of CO2 control technologies. In this paper, a first principle efficiency of 54.6% and a second principle efficiency of 55.7% are estimated, confirming the outstanding prospect of the NET Power cycle.